Nicholas Wilder Gallery

Art gallery; Los Angeles, Calif. Est. 1965; closed 1979. Nicholas Wilder was considered Los Angeles' leading contemporary art dealer during the 1960s and 1970s. His interest in art started at Amherst College where he worked for the art department as a slide technician. While in graduate school at Stanford University, he worked at the Lanyon Gallery in Palo Alto, California. An initial offer of financial backing to open a gallery inspired a move to Los Angeles. Although that offer fell through, Wilder remained determined. In late 1964, Wilder sold shares of his future gallery to friends in order to secure funds. He bought the shares back shortly after opening. The Nicholas Wilder Gallery opened on La Cienega Boulevard in 1965 during the street's heyday as a "happening place." The gallery's first show featured Edward Avedisian, and as it expanded it featured artists from New York and California including Joe Goode, John McCracken, Kenneth Noland, Helen Frankenthaler, Jules Olitski, Cy Twombly, Ed Moses, Ken Price, Agnes Martin, John Altoon, Sam Francis, Billy Al Bengston, and Hans Hofmann. The gallery helped start the careers of American artists such as Robert Graham, Tom Holland, Ron Davis, and Bruce Nauman. In 1970, the gallery moved to 8225 ½ Santa Monica Boulevard, but by 1979, his best known artists had moved next door to the James Corcoran Gallery. The Nicholas Wilder Gallery closed on December 31, 1979. Wilder moved to New York City and re-emerged as an artist specializing in assemblage works. Nicholas Wilder passed away in New York in 1989 from AIDS-related causes.